Collapse Technology

Collapse Technology (坍塌技术) and its counterpart Reverse Collapse Technology (逆向坍塌技术)[1][2] are methods of matter hypercompression developed by the unknown civilization using Collapse Fluid (坍塌液), and is the basis of all Relic Technology. Collapse Technology has been found and studied by mankind to a point of rough understanding in the relics sites left by this civilization.[3]

"The truth is much more complicated than you think."

This article is written from a Lore perspective. It contains spoilers and different reference materials might be contradictory.

Description edit

The unknown civilization had a radically different understanding of physics from mankind. They understood the most stable state of matter to be fluid rather than solid thanks to their fine control over subatomic particles, and particularly their ability to harness the natural attractive state of particles to reverse them in time to a previous spatial configuration. Collapse Technology can be understood as knocking a brick wall down, spreading the bricks around, and Reverse Collapse Technology as the action of reverting the wall to its original state.

Such feat is in contradiction with the modern understanding of quantum physics. As stated by Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the momentum and position of a subatomic particle cannot be both known at the same time: the more accurate a measurement is regarding the particle'sposition, the more uncertainty there is about its momentum and vice versa. However, being able to know both of these properties accurately is critical in knowing the accurate state of any macroscopic object, and by deduction, its previous, past state. This means that Collapse Technology is the missing bridge between quantum and classical frames of reference. That is, the last obstacle to a unified understanding of physics.[3]

The Reverse Collapse Pestre-class mass reconstruction formula used by mankind in the 2070s was m0 = (m^2/t0) / (g^2/m). It means the mass of the reconstructed matter is directly proportional to the wavelength of the Collapse molecular compression, and inversely proportional to the diffraction speed of the Reverse Collapse electron.[4]

Collapse Fluid edit

 
One of the five canisters of Collapse Fluid used as dirty bombs in Eastern Europe in 2064.

Collapse Fluid is the exotic matter used to disrupt the attractive and repulsive states of particles. It is not actually a fluid in the proper sense of the term, but rather a particle-wave expanding in the matter to be compressed, stopping its spread once it achieved a state of quantum stability.

Collapse Radiations (坍塌辐射)[5] emitting bottom quarks and photons are produced when Collapse Fluid permeates matter.[3] This makes Collapse Fluid harmful to the human body, spurring the development of the Weight Bearing project to protect human operators when exploring relics sites.[6] In the sites themselves, Collapse Fluid is generally safely contained in crystalline storage capsules, but human exploration has led to numerous incidents and exposures to Collapse Fluid. Humans exposed to a certain dosage of Collapse Fluid radiation contract Eurosky Low-Emission Infectious Disease,[7] leading to its military use in dirty bombs.

Another dangerous aspect of Collapse Fluid is its ability to build up heat under heavy pressure, leading to an explosion once the temperature reaches a certain threshold. This property was responsible for the First Beilan Island Incident.[7] A way to counter such an event is to evaporate the Collapse Fluid particles with molten plutonium, such as the one used in nuclear reactors.[8]

Uses edit

Mankind's progress in mastering Collapse Technology has been slow. Despite the widespread efforts to uncover new relic sites after World War Two, no country was able to study Collapse Technology in its full breadth of application until the establishment of the United Nations Relic Science Agency in 1992. In the 40 years after the war, even superpowers couldn't make use of the technology for purposes other than explosive weaponry.[3] Uncaring handling of Collapse Fluid became responsible for the First Beilan Island Incident, and indirectly World War Three.

In the 2070s, Collapse reaction piles were still needing miniaturization, and the maximum amount of mass able to be used in one Collapse or Reverse Collapse operation was limited to 24 tons. Advanced military applications of Collapse Technologies were employed by the Antarctic Union to gain a devastating strategic advantage over the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition during the First Antarctic War.[4]

Storage and transmission of matter edit

The primary use of Collapse Technology is as a form of extremely space-effective storage. It can also be used to easily transmit large quantity of matter over long distances. Relics using various forms of Collapse Technology were found in sites all around Earth, showing that it was widely in use.[3] Collapsed matter can then be displaced using microwaves.[4]

In 2049,[9] Hollow City applied Collapse Technology to supercomputers to increase processing speed and storage space by a factor of around 500 million, with no increase in size thanks to the ability to increase the spatial density of information and transmit large amount of data over long distances.[3]

Collapse bombs edit

In the 1970s, both the Soviet Union and the United States experimented with the use of Collapse Fluid as a non-nuclear weapon of mass destruction. The US scientists managed to interlace marking compounds and added a radial propagation system to their pressured containers in order to make the expansion of the Collapse Fluid clearly visible.[3]

In 2064, five radial-dispersion canisters containing small amounts of Collapse Fluid colored with a green marking compound were illegally used as dirty bombs in Eastern Europe by Bureau of State Security agent Angelia against Sangvis Ferri and the KCCO. When the explosives they were attached to detonated, the explosion vaporized all surface objects within 500 meters of the epicenter of explosion and immediately triggered ELID symptoms in nearby humans.[10] This event is comparable to the First Beilan Island Incident on a much smaller scale: the Collapse Fluid was subjected to the intense pressure of the explosion, creating in turn a bigger explosion before spreading radioactive Collapse Fluid particles in the area.

Energy production edit

In 2047, Jonas Deming completed the first experimental reactor using Reverse Collapse technology in Hollow City.[9]

Trivia edit

References edit